The Rogue God
by William Kaplan
Summary: A few years after the 'Prophecy of Seven' quest, The Rogue God focuses on new heroes, and a changed god. They go head to head with the strongest of them all - will they survive to tell their legendary tale, or will Hercules bust some more heads? Work in progress.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE – Noah (1 Month Ago)

The lost boy laid his back against the large oak tree currently sheltering him from the freezing wind. He sighed and closed his eyes, shaking from the cold. 'Where did it all go wrong?' he thought to himself as he tried to calm himself down. He was having a terrible day, and hoped it would soon be over. He had set a trap that should stop whatever it was that was chasing him - he hoped. He'd always been good at hunting and setting traps to capture animals, but he never thought he'd have to do it on such a large scale. He had no idea what he was running from - Bigfoot maybe? It was humanoid in shape, but far too big to be a human. Those kinds of things weren't supposed to exist - monsters. They were supposed to be stories parents told their kids and something that people read about or watched on TV. It was supposed to be entertainment, but he knew that thing was real. It looked real. It felt real. He unconsciously rubbed his raw right arm, red and throbbing. He winced at his own touch, and sighed.

A distant howl made him snap upright, suddenly wide awake and panicking all over again. He got up as fast as he could, and the howl tore through the night again. That dreadful, dreadful howl that sounded partly like a wild animal hunting for blood, and another part unmistakably human. How he wished there was no howl. But of course, it was too late for that. He set off at a sprint, leaving his backpack behind - he was lighter and faster without all that - but not fast enough to outrun whatever it was that was chasing him, as he'd learned a few days ago. The howl came again, louder this time, and this time there was another sound. He could swear it was the sound of a tree being uprooted. His best chance was to keep running and hope that-

A broken tree smashed down right in front of him, and he ran straight into it, falling onto his back. Cursing his suddenly throbbing and bleeding nose, he scrambled up and took off in another direction, deeper into the impossibly large forest. The howl came a third time, sounding all too close, with the sound of hundreds of leaves being shaken off their branches. A loud and quick thudding came next – footsteps. He picked up the pace until he ran into a clearing, surprising him so much he stopped.

With a smash, the giant creature came hurtling out of the trees, heading straight for the boy. He managed to roll away at the last second, and the thing overshot and ran through the trees on the other side of the clearing. The boy pulled a lighter out of his pocket, and with a click, a small flame appeared, and he held it to the ground. He knew what he was running for, but he didn't think he'd be able to find it this easily again. The trap he had set in place days ago sprang into action – the oil-covered ground instantly caught ablaze in a circle around the creature, trapping it within the perfectly round clearing. The flames burnt through a length of twine tied to the ground over the fire, and a large creaking sound echoed through the forest, just before a giant log hit the creature full force in the side of the head. The creature howled and fell sideways into the fire. It tried to get up, get away, but the fire latched onto its flannel clothes, burning its skin, and it screamed. After a few painful minutes, the screams died down to a quiet sob, and finally to nothing. As the Cyclops lay still, slightly smouldering from the fire and beginning to disintegrate into nothing, the boy got up from where he'd fallen, scared out of his mind, and started walking aimlessly through the forest. After a long time - he wasn't sure how long exactly, his watch had broken days ago – he saw burning torches in the distance, and some strangely out of place stone arch. Confused, he walked towards it, on guard for any more threats from the forest.

As if on cue, a gang of armoured soldiers leapt from trees above him, landing in a circle around him. They held an assortment of weapons, and none of them looked friendly. Startled, the boy scrambled back and walked straight into one of them. Eventually, the people lowered their swords, and one of them took off their helmet. What he saw defied explanation – it was a teenage girl, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. The boy gasped, and she smirked at his reaction. She stepped forward.

"What are you doing here?" She asked; her voice full of malice, "Who are you?"

"U-u-uh..." the boy stammers, her voice pulling him in, "I'm lost, I guess."

At that she gave a frown, tilting her head to the side and staring at the boy intently. After a second, her head straightened and she nodded, like she'd come to a decision.

"Follow me; I'd like you to see something." She turned away, walking briskly towards the arch. He hesitantly followed her, flanked by the others. She passed through the arch, and they all stared at the small boy.

"W-what? Why are you all staring at me?" He stammered, instantly on guard again because of the looks he was getting.

"Nothing... It's nothing. It means you're supposed to be here. If you weren't, you wouldn't be able to pass beneath the arch." The girl replied. "Come on. I'll take you to Chiron. He'll want to see you."

"What? We're going to see who? And why would a 'Chiron' want to see me?" He replied, perplexed by the whole situation.

"What's your name?" she asked; her tone softer this time.

"Noah." He replied warily, still unsure of whether or not to trust these armoured teens.

"Come on Noah. I'm sure he'll explain. The rest of you, back to guard duty" She said, and then walked off. The people behind him turned and walked back the way they came. Having no other choice, he followed the girl. When they crested the hill, what he saw defied explanation - or so he thought.

This was an impossible place, of that Noah was sure. This could not be real, he kept telling himself. This must be a dream. He pinched his arm, but nothing happened. Frowning, he followed Chiron back into the Big House. He had freaked out when he saw the centaur, half-man and half-horse, and had tried to run away in a panic. He didn't get very far, since the girl quickly clamped a hand on his shoulder. After a few minutes of talking to Chiron, he had calmed down, and they started the tour. They started at the Big House, a giant blue farmhouse where Chiron and the mysterious camp director lived, and it housed commodities such as the infirmary, the recreational room where they held council, and the attic that housed the mysterious Oracle of Delphi.

Chiron then showed him the volleyball courts where they watched a group of people playing against each other, some performing acrobatics that astounded him, flipping through the air to keep the ball off the ground; the arts and crafts centre where they watched a boy make a lyre and then play it to his friends, whilst a girl made a bust of Demeter; the canoe lake that had actual Greek triremes floating on it, and they watched them open fire at each other in a mock sea battle; and then they got to the cabins. The boy was awestruck. There had to be more than 20 cabins, arranged in an S shape. Each cabin was differently designed: one was decked out with barbed wire and a boar's head, another had a roof of grass, and another was made of white marble. Each was drastically different. Chiron chose this moment to challenge everything he thought he knew.

Chiron told the boy some things that should have been impossible. He didn't believe any of it at first, but then he remembered what happened to him during the past couple of days. He shuddered as he tried to take it all in.

Chiron told him that the Greek gods are real. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and all the rest - they exist. They also come to Earth every now and then and fall in love with mortals, making incredible children, called demigods. All the campers here were demigods. There was one cabin for each god, major and minor, and they were all decorated to fit the god's unique personality. And apparently, he was a demigod too.

"You couldn't have walked through the entrance without having some godly blood in your veins. The barrier keeps out everything else, even the weather." Chiron said, and gestured to the clouds that were making their way around the camp, but not one floated overhead.

He was shaking. He couldn't believe it. He was half _god._ He didn't know which god though, and apparently, neither did Chiron.

"You'll be claimed by your mother or father, and then you'll know." Chiron informed him, patting him on the shoulder. "Come on, there's more to see."

Chiron showed him the forge, where they watched Hephaestus kids make an array of magic bronze weapons and armours. Chiron said that celestial bronze wouldn't harm mortals, but would easily kill a monster. He said that the bronze was needed because mortal metals can't kill them. He saw the armoury, where a son of Ares was sharpening a giant battleaxe. He saw the arena, where they watched demigods learn how to swordfight. He saw the pegasus stables, and they watched Demeter's children flying around on the pegasi. He saw the mess hall, with all the tables and the benches. He saw the climbing wall, and watched a satyr climb up as earthquakes shook it and lava poured down the side.

And finally, they returned to the Big House. It was dark, and Chiron took him back to the mess hall for dinner. He sat with Chiron at the head table, eating barbecue and watching the crowd of kids chatting and eating. He felt alone, and it scared him. He didn't think he belonged here - he didn't even know which cabin he belonged to. A tall lean boy walked up to him and raised a hand in greeting.

"Hi, my name's Connor, and I'm the Hermes cabin counsellor. Since you don't know your god, you get to bunk with us until you're claimed. After the campfire, I'll get you a bed. Cool?" Noah shook his hand and nodded. With a wry smile, Connor left to sit at his own table with the rest of his cabin mates.

Feeling more alone than he had in a long time, the boy sighed and picked at his food

/

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	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 – Kurt (Present Day)

The boy in the dark bronze armour cut a swathe through his opponents like a chainsaw through butter - he was relentless. He was alone against a dozen opponents, each of them wearing armour and wielding an assortment of weapons, but none of them were a match for him. He swung his greatsword with pinpoint precision and blistering strength, cutting through two in a single swing. He used his head, his elbows, his hands, his knees and his feet as deadly weapons, as well as the greatsword itself, until he had felled every single assailant. He was unbeatable, he thought to himself as he knocked down the last armoured opponent.

When he was sure he had taken down all his opponents and he was sure they weren't getting up any time soon, Kurt took his helmet off and strode through the Field of Mars, his greatsword resting against his shoulder, grinning at his victory. The platoon of Roman soldiers lay around him, groaning, signalling the end of the day's training. They weren't too badly hurt since Kurt had avoided cutting any of them too badly, and if they were, then the camp healers would clear up any major wounds. With training done for the day, he pushed the Imperial gold greatsword into its scabbard on his back, flexed his arms and set off towards the _Via Principalis_. He began to unstrap his armour as he walked, and he nodded at several people that passed him, until he stopped outside the entrance to the Bath House. Roman baths were the best, he thought to himself. You hadn't lived until you'd had a proper Roman bath - they were to die for. Entering the Bath House, he laid his armour on a nearby bench, followed by his clothes. He smiled to himself as he stepped in slowly, sitting down and sinking up to his neck in the piping hot water. He sighed and closed his eyes, utterly at peace.

An hour later, he had finished bathing and was ready for something to eat. He dressed in his regular clothes, and gave his armour to a _probatio_, a new kid that hadn't earned a full place in the Legion yet, to take back to his barracks, and he proceeded to make his way to the _Mess Principia_, the mess hall. He sat down with some friends from his cohort, and an _aura_, a wind spirit, placed a plate of barbecue in front of him – his favourite food. Grinning, he dug in, relishing every bite. The barbecue didn't last long. He ate two plates of the stuff and drank down three glasses of Pepsi before he'd had enough. When he finished, he stood, bid his friends goodnight, and left for New Rome.

This place wasn't like any other camp. It was special. Named Camp Jupiter after its patron, it was a place for Roman demigods to live in safety. There were 4 sectors to the 'camp' - The _Via Principalis_, which contained the barracks, the baths and the mess hall; The Field of Mars, a barren plane where they trained and where engineers built fortresses for capture the flag games; Temple Hill, which housed temples to the main Roman gods: Mars Ultor, Bellona, Pluto and Jupiter Optimus Maximus; and New Rome, the city, where demigods and legacies - children of demigods - could grow up, start a family and go to college. It also contained the Senate House, Forum, Coliseum and Circus Maximus. Around New Rome was the Pomerian Line, guarded by the Roman god Terminus, who inhabited stone busts at each entrance and exit to the city. The camp is protected from mortals and monsters, which made it a safe haven for Roman demigods.

As for Kurt, he was the model Roman demigod - well-built with big muscles, but in a lean, athletic way. He usually wore his purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt, black jeans and trainers, and he always carried his main weapon around with him – a solid Imperial gold greatsword, sheathed on his back.

The next morning, as he had woken up, washed and dressed, Kurt received a message from one of the centurions – he was being summoned to the Senate House to meet with the praetors of the camp. He hesitated, nodding before getting up and wrapping his bedsheet around him – his toga – and he left for New Rome.

Walking down the streets of the _Via Principalis_, he tossed one gold denarii, Roman currency, towards a homeless faun begging on the side of the road. The faun cheered and thanked Kurt profusely, before leaving to spend it on food. He greeted several of his friends and as he approached New Rome, greeted Terminus when he reached him. Terminus smiled at Kurt and looked him over to check that everything was in order. Terminus was the god that inhabited busts at every entrance and exit to the city. He was New Rome's border police, and stopped anything and anyone entering New Rome that shouldn't be. Kurt unsheathed his greatsword and gave it to Terminus' assistant, a girl called Julia. She gave him a lopsided smile, and took the sword away.

Walking through the streets of New Rome, he knew why he was being summoned. He had left his weapon with Terminus, as was law. No weapons were allowed inside the Pomerian Line, in case anyone decided to attack the praetors, senators, or anyone else in the city. It was also to make sure what happened to Julius Caesar never happened again. Kurt stopped outside the Senate House to marvel at the architecture as he did every time he got to visit the city. It truly was impressive. White marble columns lined the entrance to the Senate House, atop white stone steps that were smooth to the touch. This had all been here for centuries, but it all looked new thanks to the various architects and engineers that renovated New Rome every time it was getting too worn down. Smiling at the beautiful environment around him, he entered the Senate House.

Stepping in, he was greeting by a large empty room, with the same architecture that was present outside. Large columns lined the edges of the room, interspersed with large windows that showed off the beautiful city. White marble benches filled the room, all facing the throne-like seats the praetors were sitting on at the other side of the room. They were talking in hushed tones, but stopped and looked up as he entered and walked towards them, standing to attention once he was close.

"At ease, centurion." said one of them - a girl.

"Do you know why you're here?" asked the other. He was a large boy with a perfect military haircut, square shoulders, a chiselled jaw and large muscles. Word around camp was that he didn't always look like this. Apparently he used to be baby-faced and clumsy, like a baby ox, but when he went on an important, world-saving quest, it changed him – and he returned a praetor. Kurt couldn't be sure if this was true though, since he had arrived a year after the big quest.

Kurt shook his head to be polite – discipline was important in Roman times, and it was important in the Roman camp – and the girl stepped forward. A dark skinned, thin girl. Kurt had soon learned to take everything she said completely seriously and without hesitation. She had been a praetor here for a long time, nobody knew for how long, and had been through more in her time than most adults go through their whole lives, and emerged in one piece and victorious at the end. He hadn't actually been here to witness any of her daring feats, but nevertheless she was still formidable in his eyes, and he could tell the stories were true just by looking at her – she was a battle-hardened, seasoned warrior, with fire in her eyes and grim determination seeping from her every one of her pores.

"There's been a severe outbreak of monster activity near here, in the national parks." She said.

"The national parks? What, all of them?" Kurt replied, frowning slightly.

"Every single one. There's Leydecker, Marina, Coyote Hills, Agate Beach, Tamales Bay, Sam McDonald, Mosswood, Portola Redwoods, Fremont, Angel Island, China Camp, and... Mount Tam." She confirmed, her voice darkening when she spoke of the location of the now destroyed Mount Othrys, base of the Titan Lord Saturn, when he returned a decade ago to destroy the gods and usher in a new 'Golden Age'. Demigods from Camp Jupiter destroyed the base, a boy called Jason Grace fought and defeated the Titan Krios single-handedly.

"So what, you want me to go to each one and kill monsters? Sounds like a blast." Kurt replied, taking the opportunity to exclaim his bravery at such a task. Strength and honour were also important in Roman times, and Kurt felt the need to be seen as strong and honourable almost all of the time, but mainly in front of higher ranking soldiers, and praetors.

"No, we've sent the First, Second and Third Cohorts to take down most of the monsters in the parks. We're sending you to Mount Tam... Atlas is free," Reyna replied ominously, "We don't know how, and we don't know who has the sky. The Hespirades should assist you when you're there, but this is going to be dangerous. You can take a group of 4 with you; you'll need more than 2 this time."

Hearing this, his smirk dropped instantly, and he stood straighter, fists clenched, like someone had reached into his head and flicked a switch from 'Relaxed' to 'Combat Ready'. He nodded defiantly, and turned to leave.

'Good luck, Centurion' were the last words he heard from Reyna.

/

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	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The rest of that morning was spent getting the equipment for the quest ahead. He ran straight for the Fourth Cohort's barracks, which was Kurt's cohort, to tell his friends about the quest he was inviting them on. Their names were Brady, Phil, Sandy and Paul, and they were all children of Bellona, the war goddess, which was why he chose them – they were great in a fight. He'd also been friends with them since he'd arrived, which was another reason why he chose them – they were his best friends and fighting companions. He brought them up to speed on what was happening, and they all reacted well; they appeared to be excited for the upcoming fight. Kurt sent them off to grab some food to go and to armour up – they would eat on the road, since they were to get going for Mount Tam as soon as they possibly could, because they weren't sure how long Atlas would stay there – if he was even still there, which seemed unlikely. If he wasn't, they had to look for clues, and a decent wind could take most clues away, so they had to hurry.

As soon as the others had left, he headed up to Temple Hill, and entered Jupiter's temple. Being a son of Jupiter, he was somewhat a celebrity at the camp, since sons of Jupiter were rare, and usually very powerful. Kurt was no exception, but he liked to use melee combat whenever he could. The last son of Jupiter was Jason Grace, also a former praetor, but had formally given his praetorship up to give Frank Zhang a battlefield promotion so he could command a dead Roman legion to save them and the rest of their party – something else about the big quest that he had missed. Jason now resided at Camp Half Blood with his Greek demigod girlfriend. Nobody really minded that a Roman was now living with Greeks, because the millennia-long feud between the two sides had ended when Reyna made peace between both camps by delivering the Athena Parthenos to the Camp Half Blood. The Athena Parthenos was stolen in ancient times by Romans and taken back to Rome, where it sat for centuries until a Greek demigod and daughter of Athena called Annabeth found it and rescued it – she was part of Jason Grace's group, and is another part of the big quest that he had missed.

He kneeled in front of Jupiter's statue, a gigantic model of Jupiter in a toga holding a lightning bolt, standing on a marble floor that was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions, under a glittering gold ceiling sixty feet above. He looked up at the only image of his father that he had – he's a god so of course he wasn't going to visit him in person, he was much too busy and much too important - and he began to pray to his father. He asked for strength in the coming battles, and hoped he would be able to best Atlas for long enough as to get him back under the weight of the sky. He prayed for his companions, and he asked Jupiter to protect them, as well as him.

When he was had some remote thought that his father might have heard him, which he thought was unlikely, and even less likely would be the fact that he would grant Kurt's prayer, he stood up, stretched, and left for the armoury, but on his way out, he was pretty sure he could hear thunder, even though the skies were clear. He smiled, and hoped it was a good sign.

Walking down the hill, he went through battle scenarios in his head, thinking about what kind of attack his team could pull off, and trying to gauge how the Titan would react. He did this alot before fights, and it gave him a good idea of how to win and by doing exactly this, he usually did. But, he reasoned, this would be more or less impossible because he didn't know how many monsters were with Atlas, and he couldn't plan for every single scenario. So he shrugged, and decided to plan once he had a line of sight on the opposition.

Entering the armoury, he headed straight for his armour that he kept in a locked chest under the armoursmith's workbench. He opened the lock with the key he had around his neck, flipped the lid open, and pulled out his layer of padding. The armour wasn't like normal Roman armour – it was special, and it was hard and it had some sharp edges and corners, so he had to wear a layer of padding when he wore the armour, to make sure it didn't hurt him – or worse. He took his trousers and top off, and slid the padded all-in-one suit on. He then pulled the chestplate on over his head. This plate was special – it wasn't like any other armour. It consisted of a plate to protect his chest, but not his stomach, as he had another piece to do that. There was another plate that protected his right shoulder, and a smaller one for the left. He pulled on the pauldrons next, the leg armour that was embedded with multiple spikes on the knees and feet, so any kick or knee attack would do extra damage, and it also prevented any giant monster taking a bite out of him, as the spikes would impale themselves on the inside of its mouth, hopefully rendering the monster in immediate pain. The spikes were sometimes poisoned if he was looking for a stealthy kill in a hard fight. He had coated the spikes in poison the last time he fought a drakon – and was possibly one of the best ideas he had ever had, since the drakon tried to bite him in half. The poisoned spikes obviously stopped this from happening, and the drakon was dead a minute later, so he always carried a vial of the poison around with him when he wore his armour so he had it readily available to use if the same kind of thing ever happened again.

The next piece he pulled on was the left gauntlet. It was one solid plate that ran from his wrist to the elbow, longer on the underside where it protected the elbow, and it came to a sharp point at the end, as well as having several spikes on the forearm. He fitted the metal cestus for his left hand, finished with some metal spikes on the knuckles, and sharp, almost taloned fingers. He then pulled on the righty armguard, which consisted of a plate to protect the upper arm and a plate to protect the forearm. There was an extra plate on this arm because it was his main sword arm, so he reckoned it needed more protection than the other, because he could wield his greatsword with just his right hand, but he couldn't wield it effectively with the left hand. The forearm plate was done in the same fashion as the left, as was the metal cestus he then pulled onto his right hand. He then clamped his metal sheathe over his stomach, which held his daggers and _gladius _on the front and had a metal combat sheathe for his greatsword on the back. The entire thing, sheathes included, was made of metal so it could protect his stomach, and was also fitted with a few spikes, in case a monster decided to get too friendly. The final piece of armour he put on was his helmet, which was almost the standard plumed helmet that all the other Roman demigods wore, apart from the spikes on the forehead and at the back of the head.

Every piece of his armour was designed solely for brutally fighting for his life, and it enabled him to use almost every piece as a weapon. Every piece of his armour was made from celestial bronze, because that metal could kill monsters, whereas mortal metals, like steel and iron, could not. As you would expect, when he was wearing his armour, he was a deadly, unstoppable force on the battlefield.

When he had strapped all his armour in place and put his weapons into their sheathes, he left for the exit to the camp where he would meet his friends and secure their transport.

He found his friends waiting for him, armoured and ready, next to the main gate with a black SUV. He knew that the camp owned some mortal cars for fast transport, as they were useful for going over land, but he'd never been in one himself. If he hadn't been in plenty of life or death situations, he'd almost be excited. He waved to them as he approached, and they walked over to him.

"I've always admired that armour" Sandy said with a wry smile, patting him on the shoulder, careful not to touch the spikes.

"Sorry Sand, it's one of a kind," Kurt said with a smile and a wink, and got into the passenger side of the SUV.

"So who's driving?" he asked out of the window. They all piled into the SUV, Brady in the driver's seat. Brady was 17 and was the only one of them that had a mortal driver's license, so it made sense for him to be driving.

"So where to, boss?" Brady asked, winking in the rear-view mirror.

"Mount Tam" Kurt replied, straight-faced. That killed the mood in the car. Kurt figured that they were psyching themselves up for the coming battle.

"Alright, let's go!" Brady cheered, before stamping on the accelerator, sending them shooting out of the camp.

/

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	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 – Noah

Noah was enjoying his time at camp, but that quickly changed for the worse when he was claimed by his divine parent, and he received his first quest.

He had been at the camp for about a month, bunking in the Hermes cabin, and he was picking up most aspects of camp life easily. He had the routine down to a T, and the activities were fun; it was far better than any mortal summer camp. He liked the rock wall, with its flowing lava and earthquake simulations; he liked the archery range, and it turned out that he was good at archery, as he hit the bullseye, or close to it, almost every time; he liked the forges, and he'd made his own celestial bronze broadsword; he liked the canoe lake, as he was a strong swimmer and a good kayaker; he liked the sports courts, as he liked to play basketball and volleyball; he liked riding pegasi, he found that he could control them quite easily, and he liked the arena, and because of his small size, lightning fast mind and razor sharp senses, he was usually able to outwit and beat almost any opponent. He was changing. He could see the definition in his muscles as he worked his body day after day, his features were becoming more set and chiselled as he overcame barriers both physically and mentally, and he was alot more sociable, after making friends with most of the Hermes cabin.

He woke up before the rest of his cabin mates, and he usually did, and always took the morning alone to wander the camp, admiring its beauty and exploring the places he didn't know much about. He didn't really have a set routine, he just wandered until the others woke up, and then he went to breakfast.

Breakfast was probably the best meal of the day, because he loved breakfast food: bacon, sausages, eggs, beans, fried toast, pancakes with maple syrup, waffles, and everything else you could possibly eat for breakfast. He sat with the Hermes cabin and dug in. It was amazing. Today he had a bit of everything on his plate and he was not regretting it – everything went together perfectly, especially the sausage, pancakes and maple syrup. It was great.

That morning, he practised swordfighting with the Ares cabin. He liked swordfighting, but it wasn't his strong suit, as he put up a good fight, but usually got bested by his sparring partner, a skilled son of Ares called Marc.

He fought with Marc for an hour before he'd had enough of getting beaten, and he went to do some archery – that was something he _was_ good at. He hit the bullseye 7 out of 10 times for an hour and a half before lunch. Lunch was good, you could get almost any sandwich you could think of, and you just needed to create it in your mind and you could have it. His culinary creation involved chicken, bacon, pork, lettuce and sweet chilli sauce, and it was amazing. It didn't take him long to finish it, and when his cabin mates were done, it was time for the afternoon's activities.

He chose to go to the canoe lake for canoeing, swimming races and naval battles. He loved the canoe lake, it was big and spacious and full of great things to do. He thought he'd go swimming this time, and then join a mock naval battle with the triremes they kept in the lake.

He'd changed into his swimming shorts after lunch, and he stood on the edge of the lake with some other demigods, and they were about to race. One of them shouted a countdown, then a "GO!" and they all leapt into the freezing lake. The aim was to swim around the triremes that were parked in the middle of the lake, and back to the start. He didn't really think it was fair that a daughter of Poseidon got to race, since she could control the water, but he didn't complain, since it was just for fun.

The daughter of Poseidon reached the triremes before anyone else, since she'd manipulated the water to shoot her straight through the water like a rocket. The other kids were all swimming together, knocking each other out of the way, and generally having fun. Noah was at the front of the pack, quickly swimming away from the two sons of Ares that were trying to pull him back. Then Poseidon's daughter decided to come back in style. Propelling herself under the water, she leapt up just in front of Noah, spreading her arms and bringing a large wave up with her. She stood on the wave, rode it over their heads, and landed on the edge of the lake like a seasoned gymnast. Everyone else got the wave on their heads and were somehow even more soaked than they already were, which was weird because they were swimming.

After that, the other kids swam to the triremes for a naval battle, but Noah decided not to join them. He was spent. He thought he'd head back to the Hermes cabin and just relax for a little while. He looked at himself in a mirror in the Hermes cabin with his top off, marvelling at his defined muscles. This camp was good for him, he thought as he poked an ab. It had definitely changed him. He was becoming stronger, still lean and small, but he definitely had muscles now. He smiled at himself, and noticed the change in his face too. His eyes were bright and hopeful, and his features were more chiselled. He reckoned he was growing up, both mentally and physically.

Then at the campfire that night, he got the confirmation he was both hoping for and dreading. His father finally claimed him.

He was sitting with the Hermes cabin at the Apollo sing-along after dinner, the campfire roaring away a bright orange. The campfire changed colours and intensities depending on the mood. Tonight's mood was happy and festive, so it reflected that. He was staring at the beautiful flames when he began to glow.

It was minor at first, his skin become a little bit luminous, and he began to light up the space around him. In a few seconds it had grown to a healthy glow, causing nearby campers to avert their eyes from the light, and a few panicked, drawing their weapons. A few seconds after that it was an angelic glow that lit up the whole area in bright white light. Nobody could look at him. It wasn't hot, at least not to him. He couldn't feel it at all, and he couldn't look because the light was blinding. He wondered if he was disintegrating painlessly…

And then it was over. Just like that, the light shut off. He still had his eyes scrunched up because he didn't want to risk a glance until he was sure he wasn't glowing anymore, and when he opened his eyes, every single person in the pavilion was looking right at him.

Then he noticed that he was holding a bow in his right hand. It was made of a dark wood with intricately carved laurel branches covering it, and it had a celestial bronze bow string that glowed slightly. He had a quiver on his back made of the same dark wood with the same pattern of laurel branches. The arrows inside were made of the same dark wood with glowing celestial bronze arrowheads. He was also wearing a laurel wreath on his head.

Everyone stared at him and the bow that had magically appeared in his hand. Chiron saw the bow and his eyes widened dramatically. He started towards Noah, clearly alarmed.

One by one, the campers started to applaud. He wasn't sure why until the kid next to him whispered,

"Wow, so you're a son of Apollo. Nice! And nice bow,"

Noah regarded himself and smiled slightly. He knew who his father was, at long last. He looked over at the Apollo campers, who were applauding and grinning – he had a family, at long last. He was going to like it even more here, he thought.

Chiron was almost to Noah, but just before he reached him, an explosion ripped through the world around him, and threw him back forcefully against his seat. The Apollo campers were thrown through the air to land on top of other demigods thrown against their seats. The fire grew by dozens of feet until it was level with the tops of the trees, and an enormous figure walked out of it. A man wearing ceremonial Greek armour stepped awkwardly out of the fire, before shrinking to human size and collapsing to his knees on the ground.

"Ares...?" Chiron asked groggily, disentangling himself from a column he had fallen against.

The campers were up and walking towards the fallen war god. Ares was kneeling, panting heavily, ichor, the golden blood of the immortals, dripped from several spots on his body. Noah could only see one of his arms, and he didn't want to know what had happened to the other one.

After Ares recovered, he stood and his form flickered. One moment he was an armoured soldier with one arm, the next he was a muscle-bound biker in a blood-red leather jacket, all limbs present and accounted for. He looked around and grunted at the devastated pavilion.

"Chiron. We've got a big problem." Ares declared.

/

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	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Ares walked over to a nearby pillar that had been toppled by the explosion and sat down on it, heavily. So heavily that it cracked when he fell onto it. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and then he started to recount the events of the past few days. He started with what most campers already knew, but was all news to Noah, like the great stirring of monsters that had started with the Titans being released into the world again, then the giants. Then he went on to explain about the _Mare Nostrum_, the ancient name for the Mediterranean, and the ancient home of the Olympians in Greece.

Noah had no idea what was going on, and was even more confused when Chiron called his name. He stepped forwards out of the crowd of demigods until he was standing in front of Chiron and Ares. Ares saw his bow and he raised his eyebrows.

"The Epirus Bow? Nice. Where'd you get that, kid?" Ares asked, looking at him through red sunglasses that appeared to glow slightly.

"Um... I... I just had it. After I got claimed," Noah stammered, hardly able to get the words out.

"He was just claimed by Apollo before you… got here," Chiron said, still warily looking at Noah. "And I don't know why you have that bow. Do you know what it is, Noah?"

Noah shook his head, dreading the answer.

"The Epirus bow was made millennia ago, carved from the Epirus tree on Olympus. It's a very powerful weapon. It will never miss, and its arrows can fly great distances. I think Apollo gave you it for some reason, though I don't know what." Chiron replied, glancing at Ares as he finished. Ares nodded.

"I might know. I'm here for a reason. The Pillars of Hercules have collapsed." Ares declared, looking solemnly at Chiron. He frowned, then his eyes shot wide open, and he stared at Ares.

"Di immortales, you cannot be serious!" Chiron exclaimed, clearly shaken. "What does that mean?"

"It means that Heracles has had enough. He's rebelled against Zeus. When we found out that he was toppling the Pillars, Zeus sent me and a few others to stop him. It didn't work. We fought, and... And he tore Morpheus apart with his bare hands." Ares replied, shaking his head slightly.

Chiron sighed, shaking his head as well. Instead of replying he brought his hand up to his chest, made a 3 fingered claw and pushed it away.

"Where is Selena?" Chiron asked wearily.

Selena was the only Morpheus camper here. The campers started talking between themselves, but Noah couldn't move. He was frozen solid. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Heracles, the most famous Greek demigod, son of Zeus himself, had rebelled against the gods, and even killed one of them? It sounded crazy.

"She's sleeping," shouted a demigod from the back "She said she was tired and went to bed" Chiron sighed, shaking his head sadly, like he knew why.

Chiron and Ares looked at each other, and Ares hesitated before saying,

"We're tracking him at the moment. He's on a plane headed for America. We don't know where yet, but I think it touches down in San Francisco."

Chiron sighed again before declaring,

"There needs to be a quest. Demigods need to go to San Francisco and find out where Heracles is, and why." Then he looked at Noah before continuing, "I think claiming Noah today was a sign from Apollo. Noah, I think you should go on this quest."

Noah was shocked. His first quest and it was a suicide mission. He had to track down a rogue god. What was he supposed to do when he found him? He couldn't fight him; he'd never be a match for Heracles. He'd heard the myths, and apparently they were true. He'd already killed a god, and beat Ares, the god of war. If the god of war couldn't beat him, what could he do?

He sighed, and tightened his grip on the Epirus bow. _The Epirus bow_, the thought sprang to his head and he started to nod slightly. The campers were shocked that Noah was so resolute – they were all terrified. Then one of them stepped forwards,

"I'll go," Connor Stoll declared, "I'll go with you, Noah." He smiled at this gesture of friendship, and nodded to Connor. Connor winked back at him, and steeled his expression, obviously battling the nerves wreaking havoc inside of him. He appreciated that; his friend was terrified but still prepared to go on a suicide mission with Noah. He suddenly respected Connor a lot more.

"Is there another? A quest usually has 3 members. Are there any among you brave enough to accompany them?" Chiron asked the assembled campers. Some of them shuffled, clearly uncomfortable and nowhere near ready enough to go with them. Some hung their heads, ashamed at their lack of bravery, but a few stood tall, and looked like they were about to answer, but then;

"I'll go." piped a voice from the back of the crowd. Everyone parted and the daughter of Poseidon stepped through, and stood next to Connor.

"Fay. Are you sure?" Chiron asked, and she replied with a firm nod. Noah smiled slightly at this, he'd seen what she could do first-hand. She looked over at him and he nodded, and she smiled back.

"There we have it then. Noah, Connor and Fay will go to San Francisco to find and track Heracles. I'd suggest going to Mount Tam, and pray to Zeus that he isn't headed there. Argus will get the van ready, and you can take that as your transport. Good luck, brave heroes." Chiron finished solemnly, and together with the rest of the campers, they made for the hill. Ares nodded at them, and disappeared in a burst of red flames, possibly going back to Olympus to inform Zeus of the quest.

/

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	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 – KURT

After they had left the camp through the Caldecott Tunnel, they drove down the highway towards Mount Tam. Kurt took his helmet off and regarded his friends.

"Ok, regardless of what Reyna said, we aren't going to Mount Tam yet. There's too much monster activity and the Legion has been spread thin, so we're stopping off at the parks on the way to lend a hand. Alright?" he asked.

"I'm sure we can lend a hand, or a sword," Brady replied, laughing to himself. The rest just nodded, ready for the upcoming battles. Kurt put his helmet back on and got himself ready too.

The first park they came to was Mosswood Park, one of the smaller parks in the city. They parked next to the basketball court, and saw the first signs of battle. The fences were all torn up, the ground was destroyed and there were holes and trenches everywhere, with a lot of debris. They piled out of the SUV and ran straight into the park. Kurt then spotted activity near the building in the middle of the park - glass shattering. He motioned for his team to follow him and charged towards the sound. Leaping over trenches and debris, he rounded a corner to spot Earthborn hammering some demigods in dented armour, hardly fending off their attacks.

"CHARGE!" Kurt shouted, sprinting towards the Earthborn, drawing his greatsword as he ran. Leaping into the air at the last second, the sliced his greatsword straight through an Earthborn that was about to smash a demigod's head open with a rock. He carved it in two with a single swing from shoulder to waist, and it collapsed into a pile of clay. He lunged for another Earthborn, grabbing it around the waist and pulling it towards him, using the spikes on his armour to tear it open. It also collapsed into a pile of wet clay, some of it sticking to his armour. He managed to tackle another Earthborn before his team caught up and tore into the remaining Earthborn.

Earthborn were minor children of Gaia, six-armed monsters made of clay and mud, hell-bent on wreaking havoc on enemies of Gaia, and Roman demigods proved to be good enemies to tear into – until they themselves got torn into by Kurt and his team.

It was over in minutes. Piles of clay on the floor, and about a dozen demigods caked in it. Some centurions from the First Cohort were sent to contain the threat of the Earthborn, but it had proved too much for them. Ten came, but only four remained, the other six lying motionless throughout the park. Kurt sighed. The threat was gone but they had lost men and women. He thought about the other parks, if they were as poorly defended as this, they had definitely better stop off at some on the way to Mount Tam.

Kurt instructed the surviving members of the First Cohort to go back to camp, and he and his team piled back into their SUV and headed for the next park – Leydecker.

Leydecker was another small park with a baseball diamond, some grass and tennis courts. They parked the SUV next to the courts, and got out. They heard it immediately – galloping. Kurt sighed, it was probably centaurs. They ran for the baseball diamond and saw the demigods in a tight circle, trying to defend against the centaurs that were running rings around their defence. Kurt unsheathed his greatsword, and with a cry ran to battle. He sprinted for the nearest centaur, slicing his greatsword up through its horse body. It didn't even have time to make a sound before it disintegrated, falling to the ground as a pile of ash. He spun and ducked, dodging a mace that swung for his head. He stabbed his greatsword into the next one, impaling it before it too disintegrated. The centaur with the mace charged at him again, and he sheathed his greatsword, drawing his daggers instead. As the centaur charged, the mace positioned to take his head, he leapt, grabbed its arm and hoisted himself onto its back. He stabbed one dagger into the centaur's shoulder and rammed the other into the back of its neck. With a squeal, it fell forwards and disintegrated before it hit the ground. Kurt landed in a crouch, throwing the daggers at two centaurs in front of him. Both found their marks, slicing through their throats and toppling them. Kurt sighed, stood up and looked around. He watched Paul decapitate the last centaur, and stamp the body into dust. The head remained though, so Brady grabbed it by the hair, and proclaimed it a trophy, and threw it into the SUV. Kurt went to check on the demigods stationed here.

He took off his helmet as he reached the assembled demigods. This team of twelve seemed to be intact, albeit with dented armour and several injuries. After sending them back to camp, Kurt recovered his daggers before piling back into the SUV and driving off to the next park.

"Centaurs and Earthborn… What next, Cyclopes?" Brady asked, his foot pressed firmly on the accelerator to hurry to the next park.

Kurt shrugged; he was as clueless as Brady. There were loads of different kinds of monsters, who knows what they could face next. Cyclopes, harpies, dracanae, even a drakon. He shuddered at the thought. Drakons were the reason his armour had spikes.

The next park they got to was Coyote Hills. This one was a massive, wide open space, so they decided to head for the Visitors Centre and hoped that the demigods sent there would be there too. _Fortuna_ was with them today, at least a little, because as they got to the visitors centre, a demigod came flying out of a window. They pulled up beside him, and ran to him. He looked up fearfully when he heard them coming, but relaxed when he saw Kurt and his team.

"It's a drakon! A mighty strong one at that!" he said as Kurt got to him. Kurt sighed, he knew this was coming. Nodding resolutely, he drew his broadsword and a dagger, and started towards the building. He didn't get far when the wall was demolished and the drakon lunged out. Drakons are essentially dragons with no wings, and it stared at Kurt with its beady, hypnotic eyes. Kurt wasn't fazed by it's paralysing gaze, so as it lunged straight at Kurt, fangs dripping with poison, he lifted his broadsword to parry it. He used all his strength but it landed on him anyway and they went down together, Kurt grappling with it, stabbing the spikes on his armour into it repeatedly. It howled with the impacts and rolled off him and he got to his feet, brandishing his weapons in front of him. The drakon lunged again, trying to bite his head off, but he smashed the hilt of the broadsword against its mouth and the front teeth shattered. It roared at him, and its throat began to glow. He barely managed to roll to the side as fire belched from its mouth, coating the ground where he was a moment before in red-hot fire. Before it could turn and aim the fire at him or his team, he clambered onto its back. Standing on a rock-hard scale, the drakon couldn't feel or see him, so it had no idea where he had gone – until he slid the broadsword under a scale and stabbed down hard. He drove the sword straight into the drakon and it screamed, thrashing until Kurt rolled off its back, the broadsword still stuck in its back. He drew the other dagger, and ran at the drakon again. He rolled under its gaping jaws and stabbed one dagger into its throat. It screamed again and lifted its head up, forcing Kurt to let go of the dagger. He threw the other at its right eye as it looked at him, and it was a perfect shot. It sliced straight in, making it thrash and roar in pain. None of this seemed to be fatal enough to kill it though.

Kurt's tactics instantly changed, and he thought about how gold is a good conductor. Raising his right hand, he closed his eyes and concentrated. A second later, thunder rumbled through the sky, and a bolt of lightning came down and struck the drakon on the back, where the broadsword was impaled. The lightning went straight through the drakon to the dagger impaled in its eye and to the dagger in its throat. The drakon screamed as the electricity coursed through its body, before it poofed into a large pile of ash, the gold weapons clattering to the floor, steaming.

His team and the last remaining demigod cheered, and Kurt went over to retrieve his weapons. Sheathing them all, he told the demigod to head back to camp and report to the praetors. He could see that he was the only survivor. Once more the demigods piled into the SUV.

"That was a great fight, Kurt. You really took it to that drakon!" Sandy exclaimed, patting him on the shoulder. He didn't smile. He sat there, straight-faced, so full of adrenaline that he didn't even notice that she'd said anything. He was in war mode, and it was time for the main event.

"We've wasted enough time here. If the rest can't manage without us, then so be it. Take us to Mount Tam." Kurt said, and Brady hesitantly nodded before stamping on the accelerator.

/

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	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 – NOAH

The journey was going quite well until the giant attacked.

They were driving down the highway, heading for San Francisco, when Noah heard a loud thudding sound. He looked around worried, because he had no idea what it could be. He opened the window and leaned out to get a better view of his environment, and he saw it. Big and blue and running straight for them, a Hyperborean giant stomping down the highway behind them, knocking cars aside and occasionally flipping them over. Noah panicked and almost fell out, but he managed to get back in to tell Connor and Fay. Connor didn't say anything, but he bit his lip and floored the accelerator. Fay suggested that he should use the Epirus bow, and he grabbed an arrow and the bow, leaned out of the window again, and took aim.

Or that's how he'd have liked to do it. Instead, when he nocked the arrow and pulled the string, the arrow started to glow and it distracted him so he didn't really aim properly, and he fired it accidentally and it hit one of the cars in front of the giant. The glow turned out to be a kind of explosive energy that… exploded, when it hit its target. When it hit the car, the power of the bow sent it rocketing backwards, slamming straight into the giant's head. It staggered and ripped the car from its face, scowling at Noah. It took aim, and threw the car straight at him. He ducked back inside and it clipped the wing mirror, and instead hit a car in front of their van, sending it careering into them.

The van smashed straight into the car, sending it into a barrel roll. They all curled up in the van to minimise the damage to them, and as the van rolled, they rolled with it. It came to a stop after a few rolls, and they hurriedly got out, just as the giant smashed into the van and sent it an additional few metres. Out of options, they turned to fight it.

Noah drew another arrow, noting with satisfaction that the used arrow had appeared back in the quiver – an infinite supply of magic arrows – just what he needed. He nocked the arrow, careful not to let the glow distract him, and he fired. The arrow was straight on target, and hit the giant square in the chest. The concussive force of the arrow flung the giant back across the highway, onto the other side and into oncoming traffic. Several cars hit it in the head and chest before it could stand up and brush them off. By the time it spotted the demigods, Noah had let another arrow fly. This one hit it straight in the forehead, and was sent somersaulting off the highway. He hoped it didn't clamber back up.

The demigods cheered, but they were now without a ride. Connor went back to the overturned van to grab their packs, whilst Fay looked for a car to hijack from the traffic jam of abandoned vehicles that had fled once the cars started flying. Noah stood watch with the Epirus bow in case the giant made a return appearance.

After a minute or two of searching, Fay managed to 'secure' a sedan and they got in and took off. Noah was pretty sure he saw giant blue fingers on the edge of the highway as they left.

Back on track, they had no more interruptions as they passed through Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, until they got to Illinois where they stopped off to rest and refuel. They had to change the license plates of the car since the owner would have reported it stolen by now, and they needed to be discreet. They stopped at a motel to sleep for a few hours, and to refuel at the gas station next to it. When they were ready again, they set off. They piled into the sedan, throwing their packs with their supplies and weapons in on the back seat. Noah kept his bow next to him and his quiver on his lap. Connor started the sedan, and they left in a hurry, the accelerator pressed flat to the floor.

They got through the rest of Illinois without a problem, and had quite a nice time sightseeing as they drove. All the places they passed through, and the different scenes that they saw that nobody else could, like a pack of wild centaurs running through a field, a baby Cyclops curled up in a box in an alleyway, and other things that mortal eyes could never see that were all open for them to gaze at.

They drove through the next state in much the same way, stopping once to grab some hot food from a drive-in, and spent the rest of their time on the road eating or sightseeing. They had a great time, and they were making good time to San Francisco, being only a few states away now. They'd stop when they reached California once more to sleep and resupply, and then they'd hit Mount Tam, and find out if Heracles was actually making for it, or not.

It was all going fine until they crossed the border into California. They had just cleared the checkpoint successfully when they heard an explosion. Alarmed, Connor floored the accelerator, taking them away from the checkpoint and the explosion as fast as he could. It didn't work though. They were standing in the middle of the road, right in front of them. Telkhines. Half-human, half-dog, they stood with jars of Greek fire, ready to blow the sedan, and them, into a million pieces. When Connor saw the Greek fire, he veered the car so it went into the oncoming traffic. Thanks to his driving skills, he managed to avoid hitting the cars that were roaring past them, and managed to stay on the road and in one piece. Unfortunately, the telkhines had transport. Connor saw it before they did, a black SUV was powering along parallel to them on the right side of the road, one telkhine leaning out of the window with a jar of Greek fire. Connor slammed on the brakes as it threw the Greek fire, and it missed and hit the road ahead of the car instead. Connor reversed the sedan and pulled off a sweet J-turn, heading back the way they had come. They had lost the sedan, but Noah wasn't sure if there were more.

They found an exit a little further on that turned them around and put them back on track towards their final rest stop. He was making good time, and only had an hour to go, until the telkhines found them again. Once again the SUV was behind them, but Noah was ready this time. He leaned out of the window, bow and arrow in hand. He took aim at the front tyre, nocked an arrow back, and fired. Chiron was right – the bow never misses its target – because the front tyre was blown off the SUV, and the entire car was flipped onto its back from the force of the arrow. They cheered in their sedan, hopefully seeing the last of the telkhines, at least for now.

Not long later they had reached their rest stop – a motel just outside San Francisco. They all got some more sleep, and after that Noah went to grab some food from a takeout nearby. When they had slept and eaten, they once again got into the sedan for the last leg of their journey.

/

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	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

They were on the road again, and the danger seemed to have passed. They were still on edge, hyped up on adrenaline after their scuffs with the monsters. Noah was waiting for another telkhine to destroy the car they were in. After half an hour of waiting, Noah decided to rest. They were in San Francisco, and for some reason it filled him with dread. When they left, Connor had explained how San Francisco was supposed to be the worst place for Greek demigods to go - the Titans once had their palace atop Mount Tamalpais, and it's also where Atlas was holding up the sky, trapped under his burden. Or so they thought. The closer they got to Mount Tam, the worse the weather. They could see the big funnel cloud above Mount Tam, whirling and thundering, a dark grey against the light grey of the stormy San Francisco sky.

They grimaced when they saw it. They had a better grasp on what was happening here, even though the mortals here didn't. They drove past several news crews, reporters straddling microphones and trying to keep their hoods up against the wind and rain. They were talking about the 'unexpected meteorological event' currently taking place, but they knew better. Something was happening on Mount Tam - something bad.

They drove past restaurants and hotels, large houses and public buildings, down streets devoid of life. Everyone was inside, sheltering from the extreme weather.

Eventually, after days of driving, the sedan stopped at the bottom of Mount Tam. He sighed, grabbed his bow, and got out. Connor and Fay looked resolute, probably steeling themselves against the task ahead. Connor had told them about the Garden of the Hespirades, and Ladon, the dragon who guarded Hera's tree.

It was a little late to back down now, so they started up the trail, heading towards the Titan. Noah readied his bow, Connor unsheathed his sword, and Fay readied her celestial bronze staff.

There were monsters in their path, climbing towards the peak. Noah got a bad feeling, but they quickly dispatched the various climbing monsters. He thought about how many might already be at the top. As they continued, the monster numbers thickened, until they were fighting a dozen a hundred feet in the air. Noah stayed at the back, picking them off one by one with his bow, and Connor took the offensive, battling sword-on-sword against some dracanae. Fay was holding her own against a Cyclops, twirling her staff and using her water manipulation abilities to affect the water inside the Cyclops, and she managed to smash it against the side of the mountain a few times just by concentrating hard enough. Her staff appeared to glow as she did this, like it was amplifying her powers. The tip appeared to change too, becoming a trident, a spear, a staff. It was impressive to watch. When the last monster was slain, they continued on their way.

When they reached what Noah thought was the peak of the mountain, he gasped. They were in the Garden of the Hespirades. The mountain continued upwards ahead of them, but in their path was a large dragon coiled around a tree laden with glowing golden fruit. The dragon had dozens of heads, all interwined around the tree. Noah considered what to do, but before he could do anything, the dragon woke up, snarled, and lunged.

But not for them. They ducked and it flew over their heads, grappling with a large Cyclops that was standing behind them. It pulled the Cyclops into the air, its poisoned teeth biting the Cyclops several dozen times before it exploded into gold dust, and the dragon turned its attention on the demigods.

"RUN!" Connor yelled, and sprinted for the far side of the garden. Noah and Fay followed without hesitation. When they reached the tree, Ladon landed just behind them. Noah instinctively rolled, and felt the air behind him compress, and when he turned around he saw that Ladon had snapped at him, head retracting from where he was a moment before. Without thinking, he readied and released an arrow straight at the head. The impact staggered Ladon, who had to flap its wings to regain its balance. He fired another, but it was aware of his tricks now, and the heads moved to avoid the arrow. But, the bow never misses its target. The arrow did a loop in the air and hit it on the back of one of its heads, knocking it forwards. That angered it.

Before he could move another muscle, Ladon attacked. It flew straight for Noah, mouths open and ready. He managed to duck enough so that it didn't bite him - instead its chin smacked him a dozen feet back, into the side of the mountain, the Epirus bow flying away from him.

/

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	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 - Kurt

The weather had changed. It had been haywire all day, going from cloudless sun to fog to storm. At the moment a storm was raging, and its origin was Mount Tam. They got there in record time from Coyote Hills, and parked at the base of the mountain to find another car already pulled up. They inspected it, puzzled as to who else could be here.

"Let's go find out." Kurt said, marching straight for the trail. The rest followed, weapons drawn, but his greatsword remained on his back.

As they climbed, they started to see golden dust on the floor - the remains of recently disintegrated monsters. The plot thickens, Kurt thought whimsically to himself. Whoever else is here is obviously adept at monster-slaying, because the dust got thicker the higher they climbed, until they reached the Garden of the Hespirades. They lunged out into the clearing, braced for a fight, weapons at the ready.

But Ladon was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, they walked into the Garden, looking around. Brady approached the golden tree, staring longingly at the glowing fruit. Thunder appeared to rumble especially loudly at that moment, and Kurt pulled him away before he could get his hands on one.

"That's not for you. Come on, let's keep going." And they continued, out of the garden and onto the other trail, climbing for the peak.

They arrived to a battleground. Monsters were here in abundance, and they were fighting three people. The ones that got here before they did. He didn't recognise any of them, and he didn't think they were Roman. He didn't have time to consider it now.

"ROMANS! LET'S CRASH THIS PARTY!" Kurt yelled, and drew his knives, before leaping at the nearest monster. The rest of his party yelled their battle cries and started laying into the monsters, slowly circling them, with the strangers in the middle. Kurt caught fleeting glimpses of them as he fought. One was wielding a glowing blue staff. Or was it a spear? Or a trident? He couldn't be sure, but he knew they were demigods. The staff-wielder could control water, and used her weapon to summon spouts of water, which she then turned on the monsters, pushing them back.

Another was wielding a sword, doing incredibly well and only wearing one piece of armour, a leather chestguard. He obviously didn't need anything as elaborate as Kurt's armour, because the monsters couldn't seem to land a hit. He appeared to fade from sight every now and then, dodging attacks and possibly even teleporting short distances. He couldn't be sure.

The third fighter appeared to be at a loss. He was small, with curly brown hair, and he was wielding celestial bronze arrows and using them as melee weapons. It was a bit strange, but he thought that he might have lost his bow on the journey, and for some reason didn't bring a spare. He sighed, and moved towards the boy.

Stabbing and slicing at any monster in his way until he was next to the boy, he nodded at him and handed him a broadsword.

"You need a better weapon than some arrows, kid." He said, and the boy took the sword and nodded. He looked at it and frowned, but started hacking and slashing at the nearest monster anyway. Kurt frowned. Hadn't the kid seen a gladius before? It was a stabbing weapon. No matter, Kurt though, he seemed to be holding his own.

/

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	10. Chapter 9

Noah wasn't doing very well with his arrows, but as he stabbed and pierced, dodged and weaved, trying to stay afloat in the sea of chaos. He was getting in way over his head, Noah thought. This was like diving into the deep end of a swimming pool without being able to swim, and then having a nuclear bomb dropped on it. It was insane. He had to stop that train of thought when a dracanae tried to impale him on her spear. He grabbed the shaft and pulled, spearing another dracanae behind him. He pushed the arrows into the first monster's face and kicked it away. Screaming, it slowly disintegrated, only to be stepped over my a dozen more monsters. There was so many. He was going to die.

He sighed and drew two more arrows from his infinite quiver, and charged back into the fray. He had lost the Epirus bow. He felt hollow inside, and he knew that he wasn't fighting as well as he had on the journey, without his weapon he was almost useless. He couldn't even block a sword strike, because it would split the arrow. The best he could do was dodge and stab, dodge and stab, and he felt his luck was running low, until he saw something that could change this massacre into something a little more in their favour. They were getting creamed by a giant mass of monsters, completely surrounded and standing back to back against the waves of swords and spears and fangs.

He saw other people. He frowned, wondering whether they were real or just a hallucination, he couldn't be sure. He was getting really worked up as he fought the monsters, barely managing to keep away from the sharp swords slashing at him.

A minute later, a man heavily outfitted head to toe in bronze armour, fitted with spikes and splattered with blood, and looking utterly terrifying, burst through the ranks of monsters and fought next to him.

"You need a better weapon than some arrows, kid." He said gruffly, handing him a funny-looking sword. He took it and nodded, before frowning at the design. A gladius? They're supposed to be Roman, and he didn't think there were any more Romans. Now that he came to think about it, a month or two ago he didn't think the Greek gods existed. Wrong again, he thought. He shrugged, and started hacking and slashing at the nearest monster, surprised at his renewed energy now that they had reinforcements. Instantly, he pushed them back. He felt better with an actual weapon in his hand. Another dracanae tried to spear him, but he sidestepped and hacked the spear in two, and then sliced the monster's head clean off. He kicked the body at a Cyclops and it exploded against him, blinding its one eye. He then leapt and stabbed the Cyclops in the chest, raking it down until it too exploded into dust.

Minutes later, and the monsters were all gone. The only thing left of them was the golden dust that was piled up to their ankles. The demigods stood there, looking at the other group with curiosity. Before anyone could say anything, something really weird happened. They found the reason they were here, and it was not good.

"Help… me…" came a faint moan. They all whipped towards the voice, and stared.

/

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	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10 - Kurt**

"Help… me…" came a voice. Kurt spun around to the source of the voice, and what he saw made no sense.

Well, most of what he saw made sense, as he'd been told about it when he first got to Camp Jupiter. The sky turned into a funnel cloud, and became an actual physical _thing_ here. It was where the sky and the earth had first made contact, spawning their first children, the Titans. The legend said that they yearned to touch again, but if they ever did, it would bring about the end of civilisation.

Atlas, one of those Titans, was supposed to be holding the weight of the sky here, stopping it from touching the Earth. It was his punishment for fighting against the Olympian gods in the Titan War. But he wasn't there any more. In his place, struggling and grimacing under the weight of the sky, was Hercules.

It made no sense. Why would Hercules be here? He was expecting to find someone else holding the sky, but not him. He was grimacing, struggling, yet he was supposed to be the strongest of them all? Maybe the sky _was_ that huge a burden, that it crushed even the mightiest of them.

Kurt frowned and looked around. Everyone else was as shocked as him. A quick nudge and his group were in battle stations. The other group lifted their guard up too, but there was nobody to fight. Atlas was gone.

Kurt strode over to Hercules.

"Where is Atlas? And why are you holding the sky?" Kurt asked, and the curly haired boy stepped forward.

"We were sent here to find Hercules. He's gone rogue. He chopped Ares' arm off!" the boy exclaimed.

Kurt frowned. Hercules, a god, betrayed the other gods? It was unthinkable. The gods were an army, a family. Why would one betray the others, for a _Titan_? It didn't make sense.

"Hero… you need to help me… Atlas tricked me, into this… One of his minions… Please, this is…. Getting really hard for me to… hold." Hercules grunted, in obvious pain.

"Why should we believe you?" Kurt asked, and the god lowered his head.

"I guess… you shouldn't…" And that was when the trap sprung.

The disintegrated monster-dust started swirling. They were reforming, right before their eyes. Before any of them could move, the monster army was complete again, and a shadow fell over them.

Atlas had arrived. Landing a few feet in front of the heroes, he towered over them, in full combat armour, holding a spear in his hand; he stared down at the heroes.

"Well… Heroes… How pleasant." Atlas sneered, and kicked Kurt in the chest. He flew backwards, towards Hercules. The god braced, and rolled backwards when Kurt neared, and left the burden of the sky to the demigod. He landed in a crouch, arms lifting, and the sky dropped onto his shoulders.

It was the most difficult thing he had ever had to do in his life. His muscles instantly strained, his legs buckling, his vision blurring. It was the heaviest thing in the world, and so cold. He struggled with all his might to stop it from touching the ground, and it was all that he could do to keep himself from falling unconscious beneath it.

"NO!" Brady shouted, running at Atlas. He leapt and brought his sword down on-

His spear. Atlas lifted his spear and smacked Brady away like a fly. The other heroes surrounded him, but they knew it was pointless. It was a _Titan_.

They had forgotten about Hercules though, and he took the opportunity to sneak up behind Fay. All too quick, he grabbed her, lifted her above his head, and threw. She cleared the mountain with ease, flying hundreds of feet before she landed in the sea two miles away.

Noah gawked, and lifted his sword to strike Hercules, but before he could move, he felt immense, searing pain. Looking down, he saw that Atlas had speared his thigh, severing the muscle. He sighed, and fell unconscious for the second time today.

Kurt watched his friends being beaten in agony, helpless. There was nothing he could do. Or was there… He had the most insane idea he'd ever had. He prayed to his father. _Father, we're in trouble. Please, help us. Just do this one thing for us, and I can do the rest._ He prayed, and hoped. He didn't think it was even possible, but it was worth a try. He waited… There it was. The sky rumbled, the clouds darkened. Kurt smiled as lightning forked down the funnel cloud and into Kurt, electrifying him and his armour. And it didn't stop. It was like the ultimate power-up. He pushed, and the sky obeyed. He stood to his full height, holding the sky above him, no longer so heavy. He lifted it with one hand now, and he lifted the other, and pointed it at Atlas.

Atlas had taken this time to knock out the rest of the group, but that didn't matter. Kurt pushed, and lightning poured out of his arm and struck Atlas. He went rigid, the lightning working its way through him. Hercules turned, but lightning hit him too, pushing him back and making him shake. Kurt stopped pushing and the lightning cut off. He clasped his hand into a fist and pulled, and Atlas was grabbed by the air and pulled backwards.

But he wasn't about to give his freedom up so soon. As he flew backwards, he managed to grab an idle Cyclops and threw it in front of him, and the Cyclops hit Kurt, who was knocked from the burden, and the sky dropped onto the Cyclops' shoulders, hands electrifying and locking in place as soon as it touched the funnel cloud.

Kurt was still electric, literally. Lightning surged through his body, sparks flying from his armour. Atlas backed away, unsure of whether he could win this one. Instead, he beckoned to Hercules, and he put his hand on the Titan's shoulder. As soon as they made contact, they disappeared.

/

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	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11 - Noah**

Noah woke up to pain. The moment he opened his eyes he screamed. _It hurt so much._ He couldn't move. _Pain. So much pain. What happened?_ His vision was blurry, and he could just make out a few blurry shapes_. So much pain. _And he blacked out again.

The second time he woke up, the pain was gone. He opened his eyes slowly, cautiously. But no pain. No blurry eyes. It was night, and everything was dark. There was a campfire quite close to him, with dark bodies huddled round it.

"Guys…?" Noah managed to squeak. He couldn't feel his leg. His throat was dry. Someone walked over and handed him a bottle of water.

"Here, drink." It was Connor. He had a scar on his forehead now. Noah wondered if it was from the fight. Connor looked around, and he counted 7, including him. But there was supposed to be 8… Fay.

"Where's Fay?" Noah asked, worried. He remembered now, she was thrown into the sea by Hercules.

"We couldn't find her." Connor said, not meeting his eyes. "We looked until it got dark, and we couldn't find her. I don't know where she is…"

"She's a daughter of Poseidon. Water is her natural element. I'm sure she'll be alright, she's probably just healing and stuff." Noah said, trying to raise Connor's spirits. It worked, and Connor smiled, before sitting down next to him.

"Man, what a quest… Atlas is free, Hercules is rogue, and they're gods knows where. What do we even do now?" Connor said with a sigh. He looked genuinely lost.

"Have you been on many quests before?" Noah asked.

"A few. Not for a while though. This is the first major quest since the Prophecy of Seven." He replied. Noah had heard about that. A major quest that had happened a year ago, and the fate of the world was literally at stake. Obviously, they had succeeded.

"We can talk it over with the Romans tomorrow. I'm sure they're here for the same reason we are. The way I see it, our party has just gotten a lot stronger. When we find Fay, we'll think of something, don't sweat it." Noah replied, and Connor smiled again, and patted his shoulder.

"Alright. Well, I'm going to get some sleep. One of the Romans is taking watch." Connor says, and walks over to his own sleeping bag.

Noah sighed, and went to lie back down, thinking about where the god and Titan could possibly have gone.

He closed his eyes, and with his sleep came the dreams.

_Noah was in the fight of his life. He was battling Atlas, sword-on-spear at the top of Mount Tam, and he was losing. After every swing, Atlas would counter and send him to the floor. Noah was trying and trying, but no matter how many times he tried, Atlas bested him easily. He couldn't split the spear for some reason, it would probably Titan magic or something, and Atlas was wise to the trick anyway. There was no hope. Noah couldn't win against a Titan. They were much stronger than the gods, much more powerful. _

_On the eighth knockdown, everything changed. The sky changed from grey to light blue, the sun shone brighter, forcing Atlas to cover his eyes. Noah started to glow. He looked at his hands aghast to see the Epirus bow in his hands. He felt warm, and he knew it was his father, blessing him. Even if it was a dream, he felt stronger, powerful. He took aim at Atlas with the bow, nocked an arrow, and fired - sending him over the side of the cliff. Noah smiled, and the world started to fade, and he woke up._

He woke up with a start, but he was fast enough to see the glow fading from his hands. He was speechless. That had actually happened? His dad had actually blessed him? He looked up at the sky and sent a silent thankyou to Apollo.

But the blessing wasn't finished yet. Noah stood up, and he was surprised to feel his leg again, the wound completely healed. He looked around to see a pack at the end of his bedroll, and he opened it to find a strange assortment inside. He found ambrosia cubes and a flask of nectar, a change of clothes, and some vials of red liquid. He had no idea what the vials were for, so he left them there, but took the clothes out to change. The clothes he was wearing at the moment were battered and torn, so it felt good to have a clean change.

A minute later and he felt fresh and new, ready for more adventuring. His friends and the other group still hadn't woken up yet, so he took the opportunity to walk around, to work out where he was. He knew he was in the clearing of a forest, but aside from that, he had no idea where he was.

It was early morning, and still dark, so he walked through the dark forest by himself, guided by nothing more than gut feeling. He ignored the creaking branches, the scurrying sounds of mice and other small animals, and he just kept walking. He left the forest and walked into the middle of an empty road. It was silent, and in the middle of the road, lying on the ground like it had been there for days, was the Epirus bow.

He walked up to it and picked it up. It was definitely the Epirus bow. It must have fallen here when Ladon knocked it off the mountain. Noah's luck was really picking up steam. He felt truly blessed - he had his powerful weapon back. He felt complete, and ready to kill some more monsters. He decided to keep the gladius - it's always good to have a backup weapon - a lesson he had learned.

He holstered the bow on his back, into the snug sheathe fitted into the quiver, and headed off back to their makeshift camp. He walked back through the forest, retracing his steps until he arrived back at the clearing. Everyone was awake.

"Man, there you are!" Connor said, sounding relieved. "We were just about to go looking for you. Where'd you go?"

"Oh, I just went for a walk," Noah replied with a smile, unholstering the Epirus bow. "And look what I found."

"Oh, you found it! That's so cool!" Connor high-fived Noah, who reholstered the bow. "Alright, we've got some talking to do - with those guys." Connor said, loosely gesturing to the Romans who were now standing in front of them. When Noah looked over, the boy in the middle nodded. They had removed their armour and looked alot more like normal teenagers. Granted, battle-hardened teenagers with weapons strapped to them.

They walked into the middle of the clearing, and sat down in a circle, and they began to talk.

/

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	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12 – Kurt**

Kurt was starting to like these new demigods. Especially the one with the powerful weapon, he was nice. Noah, his name is Noah, Kurt thought. And he admired his bow. After their talk, he had asked Noah for a demonstration of the bow's power, having been told all about it, he was curious. So when Noah knocked down a tree with a single shot, he was very impressed. Noah also demonstrated how it never missed, by firing in the opposite direction from his stated target. Surely enough, the arrow made a complete turn and hit the target perfectly. It was a very impressive weapon. Kurt asked how Noah got his hands on it, and he said that it was a gift from his father, Apollo, and that was the reason he was on the quest. He told Kurt that he was quite new to the camp, new to the whole demigod thing, and that he wasn't sure if it were the best thing for the quest, him being here. Kurt said that he didn't doubt that he'd do well, especially given the weapon he holds. Noah smiled at this, and thanked him.

Now, they were packing up camp and leaving Mount Tam, hopefully for good. He didn't like this place. He could almost sense the monsters here, and it was unsettling. They packed up in 15 minutes, piled into their respective cars, and left. Their plan was to go back to Camp Jupiter and inform the praetors of their findings, and ask for advice on what to do next. The Greeks were going too, which was probably dangerous, but Kurt didn't really think about it – their feud was supposed to be over, after all. That and the fact that they were striving for the same thing… Just like the Prophecy of Seven quest. Kurt smiled to himself when he thought about that. This quest wasn't as world-ending as the Prophecy of Seven, but it showed that people that used to be bitter enemies can unite against any odds, not just life-or-death. Though, at the moment, their lives were probably more at risk on this quest – they had just fought a Titan and a god, of course.

Kurt still couldn't get over that. _This is the focal point of your entire reputation from now on – what happens on this quest will determine the rest of your life_ Kurt thought, and he was ok with that – it had to happen eventually. Now he just had to make the most of it.

They arrived at Camp Jupiter in an hour and a half of flooring the gas. They swerved to a stop outside and got out quickly, running for the entrance.

"Where are the border guards?!" Kurt yelled to his group as all of the demigods ran for the door.

"So this is the entrance to your camp…" Noah said in awe. Kurt didn't have time to answer his questions. He opened the door, and lifted a hand.

"Form up behind me, weapons ready. We don't know what's happened to stop guards being posted here. Keep a sharp look out, and be ready for anything. On my mark. One. Two. Mark."

And they ran into Camp Jupiter with their weapons ready, the Roman demigods in tight formation behind Kurt, the Greeks behind them. Noah had an arrow nocked and ready, which was good, because he was their only ranged unit, and with a bow that powerful, it was a good thing.

They leapt across the stream with ease, approaching the main gate. Kurt lifted his hand again and they stacked up on either side of the door. Kurt counted to 3 and opened it, and they ran in.

It was chaos. Romans were fighting monsters everywhere. They faltered long enough to take the situation in, and then Kurt jolted.

"Get to the city! Protect the civilians!" Kurt yelled, sprinting for New Rome.

"You've got a city? Cool." Noah said, and fired an arrow at the nearest monster. The force sent it spiralling through the air.

"ROMANS! FORM UP ON ME! MARCH TO NEW ROME!" Kurt yelled, trying to get some order out of the chaos. He laid into the closest group of monsters until the Romans they were fighting were able to move and form up behind them. Noah was laying waste to monsters with his bow, notching 3 or 4 arrows at a time, to devastating effect. Kurt turned to find a phalanx of spear-wielding dracanae slithering towards them.

"Down!" yelled Noah, and when they all ducked, he let 4 arrows loose that destroyed the entire advance. Kurt looked at Noah and smiled, giving him a thumbs up. Noah looked relieved, and quickly ran a hand through his hair before notching another arrow. Kurt charged forward with his greatsword, cleaving and hacking at any monsters in his way. He dropkicked a Cyclops in the eye and it crushed a hellhound under it. He sidestepped a spear and it impaled another monster. He blocked a sword strike and just so happened to decapitate the monster swinging at him. Was this a blessing? Kurt thought, was his father watching and making sure he wins this battle? Only one way to find out, Kurt thought.

"DOWN!" Kurt yelled, and lifted his greatsword into the air. This was the defining moment – the way for him to finally tell that his father was watching over him – that he cared.

After a few seconds of nothing, there was a rumble. The monsters had stopped to watch by this point, and they looked into the sky in unison. A black storm cloud swirled over the camp, and produced one large lightning bolt that struck his greatsword, and was deflected in a hundred different directions. It was like a sheet, covering all of the monsters in the area. As one, they exploded into dust.

But the battle wasn't over yet, they still had to get to New Rome. Hopefully, the praetors would be there, because he hadn't seen either of them since he got here.  
"TO NEW ROME! DEFEND THE CITY!" Kurt yelled, advancing on the city with dozens of Romans behind him, and a few Greeks.

It was getting harder and harder to make ground towards New Rome, as monster numbers swelled and started to push back, trying to keep them from advancing. Kurt was getting frantic - he had no idea how New Rome was doing, if there were any soldiers guarding it, and if the praetors were alive. The Romans formed up in a wedge to push through the monsters lines, but it was getting more difficult. They made less and less ground each time they pushed forwards. Kurt was still trying to work out how all the monsters got here. He'd have to wait until the battle was over - if they even won.

On their final push, Kurt charged out in front, swinging his greatsword like a madman, clearing a path for the wedge to fit in, and when the wedge was in, he retreated back into the Romans' shield wall, and pushed forwards along with the rest of them. He saw Noah at the back of the wedge, firing arrows at monsters as quickly as he could. He smiled at Noah and he looked over, returned the smile, and continued killing monsters. Kurt shook his head. What was he doing? Watching Noah whilst he had a job to do. He turned and started hacking into the nearest monster, helping to clear a path forwards.

/

**Author Notes:** I'm so happy so far. I love this story and that I've got over 100 visitors, from all around the world. In the US, the UK, India, the Phillipenes, Canada, everywhere. It makes me feel so happy that this is everywhere, and that people actually like it. So thankyou for reading, so much.

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	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER 13 - Fay**

Whilst the other demigods were fighting, Fay, the daughter of Poseidon, was healing.

She lost consciousness when she was thrown by Hercules, the G force taking its toll on her. She awoke to a bright light. The Sun. She was floating in the ocean; face up, the sun high and bright above her. She shook herself slowly. She was breathing underwater, as she had learned she could do years ago, after Poseidon claimed her. She had spent days in the canoe lake, talking to the naiads and practising her water manipulation powers. Looking down at her, she saw that she was a little sunburnt from floating here. Concentrating, she willed the water to heal her. When she was submerged in ocean water, it would automatically heal most wounds, especially the life-threatening ones, but with things like sunburn, usually a minor irritation, took her will to heal. It probably wasn't important enough unless she asked for it.

She rotated herself until she was floating head-up, and she willed the water to push her to the surface. Her head bobbed up and she willed herself dry - she could do that too. Unless she wanted to be wet, she could make herself bone-dry, even in water. She liked Poseidon's abilities, and was happy that she was his daughter.

Looking around, she tried to work out where she was. She was in the ocean, and couldn't see land immediately. That worried her. How far had Hercules thrown her? She concentrated again, and her exact coordinates popped into her head. It was of no use to her though, since she couldn't use them to find land, only her position. Being stranded in the ocean wasn't a big problem for her, since she could manipulate the water and breathe under it, but it was a problem nonetheless. What if Noah and Connor needed her help against Atlas and Hercules? She wondered how much time had passed. Had Kurt found a way to get out from under the weight of the sky? Had Noah found the Epirus bow again? They could both be dead, for all she knew.

She sighed, and focused on trying to locate land. She concentrated, willing the water to pusher up even more, until she was standing on it. She willed the water to solidify and hold her weight wherever she walked, and she thought that was pretty cool. It had taken her a long time to work out how to walk on water, and make it solidify on command. She willed a wave to lift her even higher, and then solidify when it reached its apex. That gave her a decent view of her surroundings, and an easier way to spot land. But she saw nothing. Hercules really must've thrown her far. She wondered if Noah and Connor were looking for her, when she had an idea. She released the wave and plunged back into the ocean. She then summoned all her concentration, and pushed out a telepathic plea for help from all of the marine life in the area. Then she waited. It didn't take long for the first fish to appear, a small tuna fish that kept repeating _daughter of the sea god, daughter of the sea god_, into her mind. She smiled and stroked it slowly, and it nuzzled her hand in response, and swam around her in circles, obviously happy with her presence. Then the bigger fish began to appear, and a few sharks swam lazily up to her, nuzzling her gently. She stroked the sharks and greeted them telepathically.

This was one of her coolest abilities, one she loved to use and did so regularly. She visited the ocean at least once a week to talk to the fish, and usually attracted at least one shark, as long as she was deep enough.

_Hello,_ she said into their minds, _I need to find land. Do you know where the closest land is?_ One of the bigger sharks swam forwards and turned down slightly, offering her its dorsal fin to hold. She obliged, and it swam away from the gathered fish, which all started to follow, as they raced through the ocean.

They arrived at Bolinas Bay after an hour, and the shark stopped, bobbing in the water. She stroked it one last time, thanked it, and it nuzzled her before turning and leaving. Once again she stood on the water, looking at the bay in front of her. She was back in San Francisco. The funnel cloud above Mount Tam was almost gone, but she could still see where the sky became solid. She hoped that meant the trouble had passed and they weren't dead. She willed the water to push her forwards and she stepped onto the beach. Looking around, she was surprised to see her staff further up the beach, impaled in the sand and sticking vertically upwards. She remembered letting go of it when she was thrown - this must be where it fell to. She walked over to it, smiling, and lifted it out of the sand. She spun it, and put it into the sheathe on her back. She also had a dagger strapped around her waist, but she didn't really like using it.

She walked up the beach, and back onto dry land. She walked onto the highway, heading towards Mount Tam. After half an hour of walking, she reached the turn-off, and saw that the car was gone. That meant that it had either been taken away by the authorities, or that they had survived and left. She was really hoping for the second to be true. She had no idea where to go now, where they could possibly have gone. She turned around to get back onto the highway when she spotted a monster. It was a hellhound, and it was running. She made a split-second decision and followed it. It wasn't running very fast, and she was feeling 110% after her time in the ocean - it had invigorated her, filled her with energy. She ran after the hellhound as it ran through a wood, managing to keep it in her sight. It ran across roads, through neighbourhoods and more woods, and she didn't fall too far behind. As they got closer to Bothin Marsh, the hellhound slowed down, and started sniffing the air alot. Maybe it could smell her, she wondered, and slowed down. But no, as they reached the marsh, it ran to a larger group of monsters. They were all moving further into San Francisco, and she wondered what they could be doing. Then the thought struck her. Noah and Connor. They had made it out, and the monsters were chasing them. That had to be it.

The monsters were marching down the middle of the road, and though the motorists obviously couldn't see them for what they really were because of the Mist, something was obviously amiss. As cars neared, they either turned around and screeched away, or abandoned, as the mortal ran away in the opposite direction. She used this to her advantage and got into a coupe, the keys still in the ignition. She knew how to drive, she had taught herself at the camp. She and the Stoll brothers hotwired the camp van and took it out for a drive every now and then.

She put it into drive, and floored the gas. She rocketed past the monsters, and she hoped they didn't smell her, as she drove ahead of them, hoping to find more on the same trail, or Noah and Connor themselves. It involved a lot of trial and error, and taking alot of wrong turns, but every now and then was a small clusters of monsters, moving in the same direction. It was like breadcrumbs. She followed the trail with varying degrees of success. Sometimes she took a wrong turn because they looked like they were headed down one road, but they would go down another instead. It was confusing. She hoped she was going the right way when she drove across the Richmond bridge, making sure to pay the toll and act as old as she could. She was 17, so it wasn't hard, and the toll booth attendant didn't seem to care.

She was soon back on track as some monsters were leaving the bridge too, a group of hellhounds charging down the path ahead of her. She didn't have to pass these, as they were fast enough for her to follow, so she did. She followed the highway until it reached the Caldecott Tunnel, which is where the hellhounds stopped, sniffed, and ran into the maintenance tunnel. She stopped the car and sighed. A maintenance tunnel? A dead end. Until she saw the car parked near it. The sedan Noah and Connor had taken. It was them! They were here. But so were monsters, and they were honing in on them from miles around. She got out of the coupe, feeling uneasy, and headed into the tunnel.


	15. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

She entered the tunnel, and it was not what she had expected. She emerged into a valley, a huge, beautiful valley. In front of her was what looked like a fortification. A large wooden door stood at the front, surrounded by high walls. She saw a city in the distance. A city? In a maintenance tunnel? She was losing her mind. She stopped and listened. Battle. She could hear the sounds of a war being fought. She ran for the entrance, no longer caring that she was going crazy, and focused on finding Noah and Connor.

She ran through the door, looking around and trying to get her bearings. She was in what looked like an encampment. Buildings were stationed everywhere, in neat rows, and on the roads, two opposing armies fought. An army of monsters, against armour-clad Roman warriors. She shook herself. Roman? They had the swords and the shields, and the Roman helmets. Were they demigods? She wasn't even aware that there was such a thing as a Roman demigod. _Well,_ she thought_, I'm here and I'm a Greek demigod. How far-fetched could a Roman demigod be? _She unsheathed her staff and ran at the closest monster, switching it to spear form as she leapt and impaled it in the back. The Roman that was fighting it looked at her, shocked, before charging off to attack another monster. She went to work fighting the other monsters, using her water manipulation abilities to push them around and stop them from attacking her.

She located a water source underneath her. A well? A pipe? Something. She concentrated and she felt it rupture, the water shooting upwards, cracking the earth as it moved. She stepped back as the water shot out of the earth in front of her, and she concentrated, willing it to obey her. She swiped her staff and the water obeyed, throwing itself out in a wide arc to hit the monsters in front of her. She spun the staff, and the water forming a kind of hurricane, the water swirling around her. Pushing her staff out again, the water rammed all of the monsters around her, forcing them to explode into dust, and sweeping it up in the violent current. The willed the water to form a surface and she stepped onto it, willing it to move down the road, a violent, writhing mass of water being ridden by the daughter of Poseidon, absorbing and drowning any monster in its path. She flew through the camp, the Roman soldiers gone, charging ahead of her as a unit, trying to get to the city.

She changed her course, not wanting to drown any of the Roman demigods, and went a different path, killing any monster she saw. Stabbing with her staff caused water to leap out from the mass, grab any monsters it touched and pull them back into the water to drown and disintegrate. She was approaching the city when she saw Noah and Connor, fighting as part of a Roman wedge formation against the monster army. That decided it for her, she was fighting alongside the Romans. She was approaching the fray from the side, and pushed forwards with all of her might. The water shot forwards, striking almost the entire army in front of the wedge, pushing them all away and disintegrating most. She held the water long enough to drown the monsters, and then relinquished her control. The water lost its substance, leaking back into the earth.

She sighed, the water manipulation having taken alot out of her. The wedge had stopped, the Romans watching aghast as the daughter of Poseidon sighed and leaned on her spear. She saw Noah and Connor beaming, and they ran out from the wedge to hug her and make sure she was alright.

"I'll tell you about it when we're done here. Now - where am I? Who are these people?" she asked, looking at the Romans in the same way they were looking at her, with caution.

"We'll tell you about it when we're done here. Come on, we need to get to the city." Noah said, running ahead, the Romans following him, yelling a battle cry.

Connor just winked at her, smiling, as he followed Noah.

She sighed, her brief rest over, and she ran after them.


End file.
